When you're embarrassed by your job title and don't resonate with it
When you don’t resonate with your job title
This is a quote from a real person who sought me out:
“My job title is administrative assistant which I do not resonate with. Frankly, I’m embarrassed by the title and do not want people to associate me with it.”
This is this person’s lived experience and I believe it speaks to a larger body of people who are in the same boat.
Many workers feel unseen, misunderstood and undervalued in their roles and it’s not for lack of training, growing in their careers or being on the wrong career path. I know that this issue is bigger from what I’ve found in my research.
It’s a matter of truly understanding what our professional identity is rather than relying on job titles to define us. That’s why I’m passionate about empowering people on how to express they’re more than their title. (I was also on a podcast where I spoke specifically about how difficult this is for administrative assistants).
When you don’t resonate with your job title
How much do you resonate with your job title? Does it make you feel proud, or, like a lot of people, apathetic or even minimized?
Sooo many feelings are wrapped up in our job titles (self-esteem, self worth, self-confidence, etc). And, when they don't represent how we see ourselves in our work, we feel less than ourselves when we use them.
We have job titles in modern society because it's how we create systems and structures to "make sense of talent" in the greater workforce.
Job titles aren't meant to portray us authentically, but they can become our reputation in the market if we don't know what else to say about ourselves.
That's when we need to figure out what our professional identity is in addition to our job title.
How do we become seen, known and valued for who we really are in our work? This is a big issue for millions of workers who feel unseen and undervalued, especially if they "wear a lot of hats."
How to handle your embarrassment, here’s the fix
I call it the double intro.
I work with people who are more than their job title but don't know how to express their authentic professional identity accurately.
In fact, most of the people I meet are hybrid professionals and feel powerless and hidden behind the facade of their assigned job title. They don't know how to break free from their identity box, and being a "jack-of-all-trades" doesn't cut it.
I teach them a simple trick of using their job title alongside their professional identity. For instance, if you're an administrative assistant as your formal title and you're introducing yourself, you can say:
"I'm an admin assistant but I call myself the Binding Agent because my role is to [insert your unique value prop here]."
My advice is to do this:
What matters is HOW YOU SEE YOURSELF and explain your value.
The professional identity label you give yourself after your job title is what should resonate with you, be your authentic truth, and will capture people's attention and open their mind to who you really are and how you want to be seen.
Your professional identity will become your reputation if you use it consistently over time.